NEW YORK, October 23. /TASS/. Israel will not agree to a ceasefire even during talks on releasing the hostages held in the Gaza Strip, CNN reported quoting a senior Israeli official.

According to him, the ceasefire is not being considered even during the talks on releasing over 200 hostages because humanitarian efforts should not impact "the mission, which is to dismantle Hamas."

He also denied that the US is seeking a delay of Israel’s ground incursion into Gaza. "We deny this report. We have a close dialogue and consultations with the US administration. The US is not pressing Israel in regards to the ground operation," the official said.

Previously, CNN reported that Washington had been putting pressure on Israel to postpone its ground offensive in the Gaza Strip and liberate the hostages held there.

Earlier, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told NBC that Israel should make an independent decision on launching a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip while Washington can only provide advice.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when militants from the Gaza-based Palestinian radical group Hamas staged a surprise incursion into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel has declared a state of war readiness; announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians; and began delivering air strikes on the enclave and certain parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are underway in the West Bank as well.